A Transhumanist confronts a death in the family

[nemorathwald]

Here is a link to a wonderful letter written by artificial intelligence researcher Eliezer Yudkowski, describing his reaction to the death of his brother. It moved me to tears. I felt very similar to what he expressed, after the death of my beloved grandmother last year. Mr. Yudkowski is one of the six or seven people worldwide who I wish I could meet and personally befriend. I admire this small set of folks for consistently inspiring me to live a better life with amazing philosophy. This letter was no exception. I thought someone that insightful must be 75 years old, and was surprised when rmeidaking revealed to me that he's younger than I am.

I am a transhumanist. It would be great if you were one too, but that's OK. If you want you and your own loved ones to die and go to heaven, that's your business and I totally understand. It will suffice if you just don't want me to die, for an enjoyable two-hundred years or so, or as long as possible after that. Not so much to ask of you... but it's difficult for most people. Oh well; I'm satisfied with society taking baby steps. There's very little point in a transhumanist freakshow like me being evangelical about it in a society that is so screwed up that we depict death as a cute goth girl in Sandman comics. Please don't hate me for saying this, but I find that character obscene. The Grim Reaper is our enemy, not someone to befriend. Death is not a transition. Not a learning experience. Not justice. It is the ultimate enemy, an even worse enemy than mindkind is to itself. War pales in comparison. This is one of those issues on which even the nicest people tend to be terrifyingly misanthropic and then expect to be praised for it. "I want you and me and everyone you love to die," they are saying to me. "Eventually. Not now." "Why thank you for such generosity," I would acidly reply.

What has happened is this: the coping skills that were developed over the centuries are backfiring on us. We refuse to do the work of overcoming that with which we are coping. This is illustrated in The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant by one of the leaders of the World Transhumanist Association, Nick Bostrum PhD from Oxford.

Comments

re: living long

[greyhat.livejournal.com]

.
See my entries here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/devon/2001/03/21/
notably the second one.

Re: living long

[matt-arnold.livejournal.com]

Well said! I applaud you. There's no telling whether we will be ready for the end in hundreds of years, or thousands. Who knows how a personality might change during that length of time? I know this though... there's no sense in claiming in 2004 that living until 2204 would be boring, until I've actually been there and seen what happens.